Top Gaming Mice

As the manufacturers of gaming mice know well already, it seems that for every different type of game you can play on PC, you can find a specific type of mouse that’s tailor made to handle the job at hand, (no pun intended).

But with so many options to choose from, how can you know which brand is best in 2015? Read on in our guide to find out.

Razer Naga

As any hardcore MMO raider can attest, getting deep into a character on games like World of Warcraft can often mean hitting upwards of 35 separate buttons through ten different hotbars during the course of an especially long bossfight.

Enter, the Naga. The Naga is a mouse on button steroids, equipped with a 12-button hotclick grid that gives its masters the power to rapidly fire off a flurry of fiery spells and chug as many healing potions as necessary in a burst of button-mashing madness.

Many of the more recent, modern MMO’s to come out have begun incorporating tactics like dodging and aiming into their list of battle mechanics, adding yet more keystrokes and button presses into a fighting system that’s already complex and frustrating to master as it is.

With the tilt-click scroll wheel, sliding and hopping out of the way of an incoming magic missile is as easy as flicking your index finger left or right, then getting right back to the action. This means less deaths, less lost gold, and more time hunting down more of that sweet, sweet loot.

Of course, the Naga is 100% customizable from top to bottom, meaning you can assign any number of tasks, macros, or moves to your mouse all through Razer’s own in-house configuration app. Add this to the addition of mechanical grid buttons, a more ergonomically-friendly form factor, and an 8200dpi 4G laser sensor, and you’ve got a beast of a mouse that just about guarantees your success on the battlefield.

The Naga is unfortunately a bit pricier than some of the other entries here, but given the immense amount of capability that comes with it at stock, the cost is more than well worth it for what you’ll find in the package.

Logitech G502

The G502 is a mouse that continues to uphold Logitech’s steadfast dedication to creating solid, reliable, long-lasting gaming mice which don’t need to rely on slick marketing to become one of the best-selling options on shelves.

It’s well known that PC gamers are a tight-knit people, and will often decide on their favorite tools of the trade collectively only after having weighed the options with one another over voice chat, in person, or down at the local LAN party. Such is the case with the Logitech MX518 which, despite having almost no outside advertisements, was a staple on any gamer’s desk who took their scores seriously all throughout the late 90’s and early aughts.

I personally got my own MX518 at the age of just 14, and it carried me triumphantly through thousands of matches of Battlefield 1942, Counter Strike, and Starcraft before finally puttering out by the time I’d left for college. Five years is a long time on the force, but that Logitech was plenty up to the task of putting up with anything I could throw its way.

But, despite how long the MX518 reigned supreme, it was only a matter of time before Logitech figured out what they could do better, and take their evolving line of gaming mice to the next level. Logitech’s pedigree for manufacturing some of the longest lasting and structurally sound mice is unmatched, and that same spirit is undeniably apparent in the design and execution of the G502.

The G line is a whole new step in another direction, foregoing the svelte, curvaceous lines of its predecessor in favor of more industrial 90-degree angles and machinistic purpose-driven architecture. By incorporating in a brand new “depth perception” setting, you can accurately tune the mouse to perform perfectly on any surface you’re gaming from, whether it’s a wooden desk or a top of the line professional gaming mousepad.

Razer DeathAdder

What you get with Razer’s DeathAdder mouse is what is possibly one of the best examples of “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” that we’ve seen in years. The mouse continues to impress with its sleek, yet substantial frame, ultra-responsive response times, and enough customization options to adapt to any gamer’s title of choice.

The new Chroma DeathAdder has puffed a breath of fresh air into the aging mouse, adding a new array of LEDs that users can customize on their own to match almost any color in the rainbow. Razer being Razer, the company opted not to make any functional or structural changes, aware that the mouse had quickly rocketed to the top of their sales charts because it was as already as good as it needed to be.

On hard stats alone, the DeathAdder is relentlessly impressive, packing in a whopping 10,000 dpi optical sensor which can detect even the slightest, most miniscule adjustments to your game strategy instantaneously. With five programmable buttons, on-the-fly sensitivity adjustments, and a gold-plated lifetime USB connector, the DeathAdder rolls everything you could want or need in a fragger.

Gigabyte M6800/M6900

Gigabyte M6800

“But what if I can’t afford to drop $30, $40, or $50 on my gaming mouse?”, you might be querying the screen by this point.

It may not be the heaviest mouse out there, nor the sexiest or most stylish, but it does what it does well, and doesn’t ask much from your wallet to make it happen. Gigabyte’s M6800 mouse is a utilitarian, no-frills approach to giving entry-level PC gamers an opportunity to enjoy the same level of precision and customization as you might expect from a high-end mouse at just a mere fraction of the cost.

Gigabyte M6900

For those who have a little extra spare cash to throw around (i.e- $5), the M6900 is just as capable as its cheaper sibling, with a few additions tacked onto its chassis to provide a greater level of flexibility to any serious player’s handheld repertoire.

The quad-directional tilt wheel and 3200dpi optical sensor provide more than enough control during any long-winded MOBA matches, which can be scrolled through off the hip between 800/1600/and 2000dpi depending on if you’re sniping from the bushes or charging in on the front lines.

Readers should keep in mind that the build quality of the M6800 has known to be intermittently spotty, but given the price and the persistently lauded lifetime of the device, you’re almost definitely going to get what you pay for in the long run.

This is a mouse that means business, and is up to handle the job of any job you try to throw at it.

Roccat Kone XTD

Razer, Gigabyte, Logitech, these are names we’ve all heard a hundred times ad nauseam already. Companies that are at the top of the pile, and have dominated the market for so long you barely know the names of any other contenders who might actually have something worthwhile to show the world themselves.

Roccat is a brand that has built itself on the back of high-performance mice, designed to stand up to the trials and tribulations that only the most hardcore gamers of the bunch could really put them through: professional gamers.

Ever hear of a mouse with its very own 32-bit processor? Well, you have now. The Roccat Kone XTD is so packed with extra features and precision clicking assistance systems, it actually needs an independent CPU installed in the mouse itself to reduce the lag between your fingers and your desktop to a fraction of a millisecond. This ensures you’re never second to the trigger in a gun duel, and won’t go flying off your mousepad thanks to the four Easy-Clip, hotswappable weights that keep the whole thing glued to the desk and ready for action.

The sticker price of the RoccatKone XTD is just a hair under the Naga at roughly $80, but given its impressive internals, that shouldn’t come as a real surprise to the most dedicated spec hounds amongst us.

Wrap Up

The science of gaming mice is a constantly changing, endlessly evolving field of study, where the art of ergonomics, the data of click speed, and the power of microprocessing come together as one to give gamers what they need to rack up the kills and take no mercy on a daily basis.

And although we’ve made our own list here, it’s always important to remember that no two mice ever feel the same to two different people, and the only way you’re going to know which design is right for you and your grip style is to head out to your local electronics store and give them a try for yourself.

About Chris Stobing

Chris Stobing is a writer and blogger from the heart of Silicon Valley. Raised around tech from birth, he's had an interest in PC hardware and networking technology for years, and has come to the web to contribute his knowledge on both.

About us

ReviewTech.info is an independant community of authors giving honest reviews of smartphones, notebooks, tablets and accessories.

Disclosure Statement

http://reviewtech.info participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program to promote products in exchange for advertising fees. As an Amazon affiliate, our reviews provide direct links to purchase products on Amazon. Although we may benefit from this exchange, all of the opinions on our site are professional and reflect the honest, unbiased views of each reviewer.